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ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE 13e
CHAPTER 1:
Environmental Problems,
Their Causes, and
Sustainability
Environmental Problems, Their
Causes, and Sustainability
• Problems with the Environment
• Causes:
– Over population
– Tragedy of the Commons
• Depletion of resources
– Poverty / Affluence
• Sustainability – Resource availability as population demand
grows
– What happens if we use more than produce?
Core Case Study:
It’s All About Sustainability (1)
• “The ability of the earth’s various natural systems
and human cultural systems and economies to
survive and adapt to changing environmental
conditions indefinitely."
• United Nations Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment:
– Human actions of put long-term sustainability in doubt
• Life on earth for 3.5 billion years
– Survived many catastrophes
– Humans have caused major changes in the last 500
years
– Humans are smart, but are they wise?
Core Case Study:
It’s All About Sustainability (2)
• Sustainability depends on three key
principles
• 1. Solar energy
– Warms earth
– Provides energy for plants to make food for
other organisms
– Powers winds
– Powers the hydrologic cycle – which
includes flowing water
– Provides energy: wind and moving water can
be turned into electricity
Core Case Study:
It’s All About Sustainability (3)
• 2. Biodiversity (biological diversity)
– Large variety of species
– Many ecosystems
•
•
•
•
Deserts
Forests
Oceans
Grasslands
– Species and systems renew soil and
purify air and water.
Core Case Study:
It’s All About Sustainability (4)
• 3. Chemical Cycling
– Natural processes recycle nutrients
– Recycling is necessary because there is
a fixed supply of these nutrients on
earth
– Nutrients cycle from living organisms to
the nonliving environment and back
– Chemical cycles are necessary to
sustain life
Fig. 1-1, p. 5
Solar Energy
Chemical Cycling
Biodiversity
Fig. 1-1, p. 5
Solutions
• Understand our environment
• Practice sustainability
1-1 What Is an Environmentally
Sustainable Society?
• Concept 1-1A Our lives and economies
depend on energy from the sun and
natural resources and natural services
(natural capital) provided by the earth.
• Concept 1-1B Living sustainably means
living off earth’s natural income without
depleting or degrading the natural capital
that supplies it.
Studying Connections in Nature
•
•
•
•
Environment
Environmental Science
Ecology
Organisms
• Species
• Ecosystem
• Environmentalism
Universe
?
Biosphere
Galaxies
Solar systems
Supermacro
or
cosmic world
(the very large)
Ecosystems
Planets
Earth
Realm of ecology
Communities
Life
Macro world
(the ordinary)
Organ systems
Organs
Tissues
Populations
Cells
Borderline
Micro world
(the very small)
Protoplasm
Molecules
Nonlife
Atoms
Subatomic particles
Organisms
Living More Sustainably
• Sustainability – central theme
• Natural capital
– Natural resources
– Natural services
– Photosynthesis
• Powered by solar energy
• Human activities degrade natural
capital
Natural Resources
• Materials
–Renewable
• Air, water, soil, plants
–Nonrenewable
• Minerals, oil, coal
Natural Services
• Functions of nature
–Purification of air, water
–Nutrient cycling
• From the environment to organisms
and back to the environment
Fig. 1-2, p. 7
Fig. 1-2, p. 7
NATURAL CAPITAL
=
NATURAL RESOURCES
NATURAL RESOURCES
+
NATURAL SERVICES
NATURAL SERVICES
NATURAL SERVICES
NATURAL RESOURCES
Air purification
Air
Water purification
Water
Water storage
Soil
Soil renewal
Nutrient recycling
Land
NATURAL CAPITAL
=
Life (Biodiversity)
+
Food production
Conservation of
biodiversity
Nonrenewable
minerals
(iron, sand)
Wildlife habitat
Grassland and
forest renewal
Renewable energy
sun, wind, water
flows
Waste treatment
Nonrenewable
energy (fossil fuels,
nuclear power)
Climate control
Population control
(species interactions
Pest Control
Fig. 1-4, p. 9
Fig. 1-3, p. 8
Organic
matter in
animals
Dead
organic
matter
Organic
matter in
plants
Decomposition
Inorganic
matter in soil
Fig. 1-3, p. 8
Environmental Sustainability
• Trade-offs (compromises)
• Sound science
• Individuals matter
– Ideas
– Technology
– Political pressure
– Economic pressure
Sustainable Living from Natural
Capital
• Environmentally sustainable
society
• Financial capital and financial income
• Natural capital and natural income
• Living sustainably: living on natural
income only
1-2 How Are Our Ecological
Footprints Affecting the Earth?
• Concept 1-2 As our ecological
footprints grow, we deplete and
degrade more of the earth’s natural
capital.
Natural Resources (1)
• Perpetual – renewed continuously
– Solar energy
• Renewable – days to centuries
– Water
– Air
– Grasslands
– Forest
– Soils
– Fish populations
Natural Resources (2)
• Sustainable yield
–Highest use while maintaining
supply
• Environmental degradation
–Use exceeds natural replacement
rate
Natural capital degradation

The exponential increasing flow of material
resources through the world’s economic
systems depletes, degrades and pollutes
the environment.
Figure 1-11
Fig. 1-4, p. 10
Climate
change
Shrinking
forests
Decreased
wildlife
habitats
Air pollution
Soil erosion
Species
extinction
Water
pollution
Aquifer
depletion
Declining ocean
fisheries
Fig. 1-4, p. 10
Tragedy of the Commons
• Environmental degradation of openly
shared renewable resources
• Users focus on their own selfish, shortterm gain
• Works when only a small number of users
• Big part of why humans now live
unsustainably
Ecological Footprint (1)
• Ecological footprint
– The amount of biologically productive land
and water needed to indefinitely supply the
people in a given area with renewable
resources
– Also includes the land and water necessary to
absorb and recycle wastes and pollution
• Per capita ecological footprint
– Average ecological footprint of an individual in
a given area
Ecological Footprint (2)
• Ecological deficit
– Total ecological footprint greater than
biological capacity for resource renewal
and absorption of wastes and pollution
– 2008 study: at least 30% global excess
– 88% for high-income countries
– Humans currently need 1.3 earths
Fig. 1-5, p. 11
Stepped Art
Fig. 1-5, p. 11
Our Ecological Footprint
• Humanity’s ecological
footprint has exceeded
earths ecological
capacity.
Figure 1-7
Nonrenewable Resources
• Nonrenewable – fixed quantities
–Energy (fossil fuels)
–Metallic minerals
–Nonmetallic minerals
• Recycling
• Reuse
Nonrenewable Resources
• Exist as fixed quantity
– Becomes economically
depleted.
• Recycling and reusing
extends supply
– Recycling processes waste
material into new material.
– Reuse is using a resource
over again in the same form.
Figure 1-8
Developed Countries Have
Higher Impacts
• Developed countries
–United States, Japan, New
Zealand, most of Europe, some
others
–19% world population
–Use 88% of world’s resources
–Create 75% of world’s pollution
Supplement 3, Fig. 5, p. S9
Fig. 1-7, p. 13
Developing Countries
Population (P)
Consumption
per person
(affluence, A)
Technological impact
per unit of
consumption (T)
Environmental
impact of population
(I)
Developed Countries
Fig. 1-7, p. 13
Developing Countries
• 81% world population
• Middle income: Brazil, China, India
• Least developed: Haiti, Nigeria,
Nicaragua
• Use far fewer resources per capita
than developed countries
• Smaller per capita ecological footprint
1-3 What Is Pollution and What
Can We Do about It?
• Concept 1-3 Preventing pollution is
more effective and less costly than
cleaning up pollution.
POLLUTION
• Found at high enough
levels in the
environment to cause
harm to organisms.
– Point source
– Nonpoint source
Figure 1-9
Solutions to Pollution
• Pollution prevention
– Prevent pollutants from entering the
environment
• Pollution cleanup
– After pollutants released into environment
– Temporary fix only
– Often results in different pollution: burning
garbage
– Dispersed pollutants usually too costly to
clean up effectively
1-4 Why Do We Have
Environmental Problems?
• Major causes of environmental
problems are population growth,
wasteful and unsustainable resource
use, and exclusion of harmful
environmental costs from the market
prices of goods and services.
Causes of Environmental
Problems
• Exponential population growth
• Wasteful and unsustainable resource
use
• Poverty
• Failure to include environmental costs
of goods and services in market
prices
Fig. 1-9, p. 15
Causes of Environmental Problems
Population
growth
Unsustainable
resource use
Poverty
Excluding
environmental
costs from
market prices
Fig. 1-9, p. 15
Causes of Environmental Problems
Population
growth
Unsustainable
resource use
Poverty
Excluding
environmental
costs from
market prices
Stepped Art
Fig. 1-9, p. 15
Fig. 1-10, p. 16
13
12
11
10
9
?
8
7
6
5
4
Industrial revolution
3
2
Black Death—the Plague
1
0
2-5 million 8000
years
Hunting
and gathering
6000
4000
2000
2000 2100
B.C. A.D.
Agricultural revolution Industrial
revolution
Fig.
1-1,
1
Fig.
1-10,p.
p. 16
Fig. 1-11, p. 16
Fig. 1-12, p. 17
Lack of
access to
Number of people
(% of world's population)
Adequate
sanitation facilities
2.5 billion (37%)
Enough fuel for
heating and cooking
2 billion (29%)
Electricity
2 billion (29%)
Clean drinking
water
Adequate
health care
Adequate
housing
Enough food
for good health
1.1 billion (16%)
1 billion (15%)
1 billion (15%)
0.93 billion (14%)
Fig. 1-12, p. 17
Fig. 1-13, p. 17
Environmental Effects of
Affluence
• Harmful effects
– High per-capita consumption and waste of
resources – large ecological footprints
– Advertising – more makes you happy
– Affluenza
• Beneficial effects
– Concern for environmental quality
– Provide money for environmental causes
– Reduced population growth
Evaluating Full Cost of
Resources Use
• Prices do not include the value of natural
capital and harmful environmental costs
• Examples
– Clear-cutting + habitat loss
– Commercial fishing + depletion of fish stocks
• Tax breaks
• Subsidies
Different Environmental Views
•
•
•
•
•
Environmental worldview
Environmental ethics
Planetary management worldview
Stewardship worldview
Environmental wisdom worldview
1-5 How Can we Live More
Sustainably? Three Big Ideas
• We can live more sustainably by
relying more on solar energy,
preserving biodiversity, and not
disrupting the earth’s natural chemical
recycling processes.
Three Big Ideas for
Sustainability
• Rely more on renewable energy from
the sun
• Protect biodiversity
• Do not disrupt earth’s natural
chemical cycles
Animation: Levels of organization
Animation: Two views of
economics
Animation: Resources depletion
and degradation interaction
Animation: Exponential growth
Animation: Capture-recapture
method
Animation: Life history patterns
Video: Cahuachi Excavation
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VIDEO
Video: Easter Island
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VIDEO